Nvidia Partners With Fanuc and Yaskawa to Accelerate AI Robotics in Japan 
Jamie Dimon Warns Anthropic's Mythos AI Poses National Security Risks 
Morgan Stanley Downgrades Adobe, Workday as AI Transition Raises Growth Concerns 
Nike Shifts China Online Sales Strategy to Boost Brand and Fight Local Rivals 
Judge Approves Anthropic’s $1.5 Billion AI Copyright Settlement With Authors 
Ryanair Warns Summer Airfares May Stay Lower as Quarterly Profit Misses Estimates 
Wistron Opens $700M Texas AI Factory to Build Nvidia Superchips in U.S. 
Super Micro Computer Stock Jumps 20% After Record AI Orders and Margin Surge 
US, China to Hold AI Talks Ahead of Xi’s September Visit 
GM Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates as General Motors Raises 2026 Profit Outlook 
Nvidia Reveals 9.3% Stake in AI Cloud Firm Nebius Following $2 Billion Investment 
Belimo H1 Sales Surge as AI Data Center Cooling Drives More Than Half of Growth 
Tesla Stock Outlook: Strong EV Sales Boost Earnings, but AI Projects Drive Long-Term Value 
Nationwide Data Center Protests Highlight Growing Backlash Against AI Expansion 
ASML Trillion-Dollar Valuation: Can Europe’s AI Chip Giant Reach the Historic Milestone? 
Samsung Cuts U.S. Consumer Electronics Jobs as Headquarters Moves to Texas 
TSMC Sees Multi-Year AI Chip Demand as Arizona Expansion Reaches $265 Billion 
Documents Microsoft filed to regulators around the world have been a great source of interesting information about its gaming business. It now appears that one of the filings also provides a rare look at how much the company is earning from Xbox Game Pass.
TweakTown spotted a document Microsoft submitted to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), Brazil's regulatory agency, that indicated it earned $2.9 billion from Xbox Game Pass in 2021. The figure reportedly includes earnings from subscriptions on Xbox consoles only.
It can be recalled that Microsoft made the distinction between its Xbox and PC subscription services clearer by renaming the latter as PC Game Pass in late 2021. It is also unclear how much of the $2.9 billion earnings came from Game Pass Ultimate memberships, which combines services for Xbox consoles, PC, and mobile devices via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The publication noted, based on figures Microsoft previously reported, that its overall gaming business (hardware, games, and services) generated $16.28 billion in the same year. This suggests Xbox Game Pass earnings accounted for about 18% of Microsoft's Xbox revenues in that period.
The discovery of the Xbox Game Pass earnings figure is a good find, especially since Microsoft seldom provides exact numbers of how much it is earning from the service. The clearest data consumers can refer to is the most recent Game Pass subscriber count, which Microsoft said grew to 25 million members during its Q2 FY2022 earnings call last January. That signifies a 7 million subscriber growth from the previous year.
Many have been questioning the sustainability of Microsoft's Game Pass, especially due to the company's drive to bring even big-budget AAA games to the subscription service at launch without additional cost. Xbox has also inked deals with third-party developers and publishers to have their games launch on Game Pass on day one, allowing subscribers to access them without paying the full price.
This unconventional gaming business model, however, is what Microsoft says drives the continuing growth of Game Pass. "Our differentiated content is driving the service's growth, and we released new AAA titles this holiday to rave reviews and record usage," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said last January.
Billy Freeman/Unsplash
